Remembering May 13

I was in Standard Five when this happened. We were in a kampong in Melaka, basically nothing eventful ever happens there. So, 13th May was an "event" for everyone. Not that it affected us directly.

I was maybe too young to remember many things but I remembered that we do not have to go to school. And the adult folks were saying something that the Chinese were getting too much and need to be taught a lesson. But the few (less than 10) Chinese families in the kampong have nothing to worry as they have been accepted as part of our community. They were all safe but I'm sure they must have been very worried.

I also remembered that we had to "mandi minyak" (oil bath??) to give us special powers in case we are attacked. Up to this day I still wonder how we can take an oil bath which is boiling, or was it an illusion?. After that we kids felt so powerful that we started fighting among us.

We were informed about the curfew by policemen in their patrol cars using hailers. A lot of the kampong folks simply ignored the directive to stay indoors after dark.

So what happened then? I think it is about time all Malaysians know the truth so that we can move on with our nation building. Lets settle this once and for all. There are definitely some lessons to be learnt from this painful episode of our nation. Let not it be exploited by some selfish few for their benefits.

Personally,I do not think there will be a repeat of May 13. The country simply cannot afford it. Moreover, the masses are now more informed. The prospect of them being taken for a painful ride is much less than 40 years ago. But lets not take any chances and work towards a more united Malaysia.

Perak oh Perak

I was following the events that were unfolding in Perak this morning. Thanks to the internet, we get live coverage of the events from various sources. Even if some of the sources are biased towards a particular individual, groups or camps, at least we have the choice of "knowing" from various sources. And then it is up to us, the intelligent rakyats, to decide which one to trust. This was not so not too long ago where we had to rely on the "official media" version of everything that happens in the country.

I'm not going to touch on the details of the events that happened which culminated in today's encounter. But to me, as a layman rakyat, I'm sad at the state of affairs of my beloved country. Too many leaders who are supposed to look after the rakyats have instead failed us. Are these people who started this political fiasco ever stop to think about the rakyat or the country? I do not think so for if they do I do not think they will do what they did.

As things stand at the time of my writing, I have a feeling that BN will be the government of Perak. Personally, I do not think they have the moral legitimacy of being the government even if all the Courts of the land and the Sultan of the state who have the prerogative to appoint the Chief Minister said so. A government is chosen by the rakyats and they should have the final say. Of course, my personal views carries no weight whatsoever but I have a feeling that a significant percentage of the rakyat is with me on this.

If I am YB Nizar, I would now hand over the government to the BN since they craved it so much and are willing to do everything to get it. Along they way they have got the Sultan and the Courts on their side. Everyone knows that the police, SPR, Civil Service have always been on their side. So let them have it, for the sake of political stability. If not, we the rakyat, will suffer what with the present financial situation.

Let them rule the state without any inputs from the previous government (the PR government). The ADUNs just attend the State Assembly but do not utter a word. Let them table their Budgets or whatever bills. We just keep quite unless they are proposing to change the constitution or something like that which we should vote against. This way, nobody can say that we are responsible for any of their actions. In the meantime our ADUNs should serve the rakyats to their best of their abilities, despite not being in the government. For the seats that are held by BN we should identify potential candidates and start asking them to serve these areas.

Come next elections, we will be fully prepared and I'm sure we will win more than two thirds of the seats.

But I'm just a nobody and I do not think anybody will give my views a second look.

MU lost in FA Cup semi final

MU's unlikely dream of winning 5 trophies this season finally came to an end when it lost its semi final tie with Everton over penalties after 120 minutes of goalless football two days ago.

Sir Alex gambled by fielding 6 youngsters such as Foster, Rafael, Fabio, Gibson, Macheda and Welbeck. Though they managed to hold a very determined Everton team to a goalless draw, they finally lost in the penalty shoot out.

A penalty kick is basically a gamble in itself. Well known strikers have fumbled in their kicks before but the way Berbatov took his kick was an insult to penalty kickers. He should have been kicked instead.

Maybe it is for the better for MU. Now they can concentrate on retaining the Premier League and European Cup. After all, the FA Cup is the least glamorous of the competitions left. Just to console myself, I guess.

Sir Alex, start looking for clubs interested in Berbatov. Maybe Spurs would want him back.

Writer's Block?

It has been a while since I last made a post. A few friends have been asking why I have been so quiet. I was trying to look for a reason and came up with a list:

1. Have I been busy? Not actually. I've been busier before
2. Was I not well? No. I've been okay. In fact I have had some sleepless nights which I could have put to better use by making meaningful posts
3. Was there nothing news worthy that took place? No. In fact I was involved in a few things worth reporting

I finally ran out of excuses and have to admit that the REAL reason is that I was just plain LAZY and still am.

I hope this post will trigger me into writing again.

By Elections

Three by elections took place today for the state seats of Bukit Selambau in Kedah and Batang Air in Sarawak and also for the parliament seat of Bukit Gantang in Perak. BN won the one in Sarawak while Pakatan Rakyat (PAS in Perak and PKR in Kedah) won the other two. All victories were with increased majorities.

As far as I'm concerned it was not a bad day for the Rakyats. It shows that the spirit of change is still intact. I do not think we can do much in the small (in terms of voters) state seat in Sarawak where money talks effectively. It is an uphill battle for the opposition in Sabah and Sarawak still.

Congratulations to the winners who have won fairly. To those who played dirty may you get your due either in this world or in the hereafter.

Man United won Carling Cup

Manchester United won the Carling or League Cup after beating Spurs 4-1 on penalties. It was not vintage United. The two hour game was scrappy as far as I'm concerned. Both sides created some chances but the best chance to me was when Christiano Ronaldo hit the post with a scorching left foot drive in the final seconds of added time in regulation play. The extra 30 minutes was forgettable.

United has won 3 trophies this season (if the season opener Charity Shield is to be considered a trophy). In addition to the Carling Cup, United won the World Club Championship in Tokyo some months back. Now that the Premier League Championship is United's to lose, dare we dream of an unprecedented six trophies? That would be awesome and Sir Alex can retire peacefully at the end of the season. But first. let's get the 3 points at St. James Park, Newcastle on Wednesday.

Mee Udang Sungai Dua Penang

As mentioned in my previous post, we went north to register Aizat at MRSM Kepala Batas. On the way we stopped for lunch of Mee Udang Sungai Dua. It was good as usual but a bit pricey. The prawns cost us RM80 per kilo. Of course we did not buy a kilo of prawns but we had 3 large prawns each and together with the mee and drinks our bill came to slightly above RM100 for the 6 of us. But I must say the mee was good and the prawns fresh and tasty.

Actually, we wanted to try out Mee Banjir Udang in Kuala Sepetang near Taiping. We saw this place featured in a TV rogram recently and decided to look for it. We found the place just outside the town of Kuala Sepetang but the place was so full of people we decided to skip it and head towards Sungai Dua for its famed Mee Udang instead.

Now that Aizat is in Kepala Batas it looks like we will have our mee udang Sungai Dua more often